Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli before the game against the Carolina Panthers at Arrowhead Stadium. / John Rieger, USA TODAY Sports

by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

During an interview on The Dan Patrick Show, former Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli talked at length for the first time about witnessing the suicide of Jovan Belcher.

"Surreal doesn't even do it justice," Pioli said of the December incident in which he and former Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel witnessed Belcher kill himself in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot.

The fourth-year linebacker drove to the team's practice facility after killing his girlfriend Kassandra Perkins. He thanked Pioli and Crennel for giving him the opportunity to play in the NFL before turning his gun on himself.

Patrick asked Pioli about the juxtaposition of Belcher thanking them before making them witness his suicide.

"The truth is, I haven't made sense of it all," Pioli said. "I don't know if any one of us that were there will ever make sense of it."

Pioli was fired by the Chiefs in January, days after Crennel was let go and replaced by former Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid.

He acknowledges that he's had a tough time dealing with what he witnessed, but doesn't consider himself a victim.

"The reality is i'm not unique," he told Patrick. "This is happening all over our country. That's the bigger picture you've got to start looking at as you try to get closure."